Hair retaining comb



April 9, 1940. T. SAWYER HAIR RETAINING COMB Filed April 2, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 AVZW INVENTOR LEEITER T. SHWYER 7 ATTORNEa fPatented A r'.19, 1940 I 2,196,815 1mm RETAINING MB Lester T. Sawyer, Fltchburg, Mass. v Application April 2.193s, Serial No. 199,641,

i 3 Claims. (01. 132- This invention relates tohair retaining combs having contiguous bulging'po'rtions on teeth which resiliently engage'and grip the hair both to hold the bomb in place and to enable the c'omb'to hold 5 the hair in place. r

An object of the invention is to improve such construction beyond the "accomplishment dis- -Sept'ember'11,1928. 1

closed in-my prior Patent No. 1,684,362, granted i A still further object of the invention-is to pro-"- I vide a method and apparatus for the. commercial manufacture of'such combs with convenience and.

dispatch". u Ordinary combs when finished comprise an alternating series of teeth and open spaces so that theopen spaces permit the ready molding'of the ,flnished comb. The type of comb contemplated by the present invention requires that the teeth substantially contact at their gripper-portions,

'2 which precludes theuse of the ordinary methods of-manufacture. H v 1 In general-I propose to make first a sub-article of manufacture in which the supporting back portion of the comb is curved, preferably arcuate,

2 with the gripping teeth flaring out of its convex edge. .To produce this sub-article conveniently I mold it out of any suitable comb material, such as Bakelite or other material such as pyroxylin,

but preferably suchmaterial as may be molded and has resilience when. cold and bendability or flexibility, as distinguished from resilience, when heated.

The above and further obiectsof theinvention' i will better be understood by reference to the following specification 'which should be read, for purposes of illustration, in co'nnection with the accompanying drawings. The claims are directed .tion. 40 In the-drawings: Fig. 1 shows in plan a mold and indicates molded sub-articles of manufacture under my inven-.-

tion; Fig." 2 is a vertical elevation partly in diametrical cross-section of the structure of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows-one of the sub-structuresin com- 50 elevation;

Fig.4 is a view of the same in side elevationf Fig. -5 is a perspective viewvof a converter for finishing the combs.

to usual injector molding requirements has preferably suitablyformed in the upper face of the base. I cut-outs to'provide a complete circle of arcuatejcomb formations B with sprew passages 3,;4and 5 arranged in accordance with good mold- 5 ing practice. The mold is filled in any suitable manner, as by injection under pressure, with the selected comb material. After the combs have solidified sufliciently the mold is opened and the Y sub-structure B come outas an e'ntirety'simulating a wheel, the sprew material is cut loose so that the sub-articles of anufacture B are substantially as shown in Figs. 3 and '4' in which they are shown insertedwith their supporting back' portions -6 resting in sockets or notches of a heated softening block 8. Here it should be noted that contiguous'bul'ging portions 9 and i0 of'theteeth are out of contact andifthat the spaces therebetween are su'mcie'nt to. accommodate the Qpartitions I! of moldA.

' When the supporting back portion 6 had been softened by-h'eat enough-to'be flexible a subcomb B is placed on the, saddle l3 of former'C and the supportnig. backportion 6. is forced against the flat rear wall. H to straightenit out causing'the bulgingportions 9 and ill of contiguous .teethsubstantially to contact' with one another and, iffde'sired', to contact enough slightly to compress the bulging portionsof'the teeth. which are resilient. ;With 1a sub-comb B' pressed against theflat back wall i l the cylindrical former 20 is pushed down tofbendthe 'supportingback portion into .the'desired cylindrical form. The former G is not heated and serves to chill'the comb worked on and to set it so that it is no longerfiexible, as disr Y .tinguished from resilient. to this disclosure solely for purposes of illustra' l 1 Although I prefer to mold the sub-articles of manufacture B it is conceivable that they might be die stamped out of sheet .materialto complete the initial form shownin Figs. 1, 3 and 4.

Although the finished comb is preferably-cylin dri'cal as indicated for the finished comb D in Fig. 5, it should be borne in mind that the radius of curvature offthe cylindrical surface 13 may be anything desired, even up. to infinity when it bination with a heater blockfor transforming 2 it into a finished comb, the-view being in front" would befiat. It should be noted that initially, in thesub-formation B the convexity of the supporting back portion is on'the edge from which the teeth project and flare while "in the finished comb thisconvexity, is eliminated so that the supporting back portion 8 is straight in the plane at right angles to the teeth ll. Thisis true reg'ardlessof whether the cylindrical shape-shown 2. The structure as defined in claim 1 further characterized by the fact that a sufllcient number of said comb blanks are arranged and interconnected to form an annular. structure.

3. The construction as defined in claim 1 further characterized by the fact that one face of said sub-article of manufacture lies substantially in a fiat plane and said comb blanks form a circular ring.

- LESTER T. SAWYER. 

